Northern Ireland

Former Republic footballer Kevin Kilbane marries Dancing on Ice partner in Canada

Kevin Kilbane and Brianne Delcourt partnered for ITV's Dancing on Ice show last year. Picture by ITV
Kevin Kilbane and Brianne Delcourt partnered for ITV's Dancing on Ice show last year. Picture by ITV

Former Republic of Ireland footballer Kevin Kilbane has married figure skater Brianne Delcourt after they partnered on UK TV show Dancing on Ice.

Kilbane, a former Everton and Hull City star who earned 110 caps for the Republic's national squad in an international career between 1997 and 2011, wed Delcourt in a small ceremony in her native Canada at the weekend.

The pair were partnered together for the twelfth series of ITV's Dancing on Ice late last year, and within two months of becoming a couple, 41-year-old Kevin proposed at a London restaurant.

Plans to marry at a large ceremony in Ireland were shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in an Instagram post following the smaller ceremony, Brianne wrote: "So, today was the day Kevin & I were supposed to be getting married in Ireland," adding: "We celebrated our proposed wedding day anyway."

Kevin, who split with ex-wife Laura in 2011, has two daughters, while Brianne has one daughter.

Describing their whirlwind romance, Brianne recently told Hello magazine: "We wake up every day and say how blessed we feel. I feel like I have known Kevin forever. I wish I had met him 20 years ago."